Dean Russell: Thank you, Mr Speaker, and your team for extending the day and for staying so late in the evening to allow these speeches.
It is with great sadness that I rise to pay tribute to Her Majesty the Queen on behalf of myself and my constituents across Watford. We have heard loving tributes from across the House today, and we all mourn her loss and will grieve together. But what is grief if not a reminder of the strength of our everlasting love? We did love Her Majesty the Queen. Many of us never met her, but, as we have heard today, we all felt we knew her. In fact, we loved her as if she were a member of our own family, and many of us often invited her to our own Christmas day, after dinner. Her image has been ever present in our lives, like family photos on our fireplaces; we may not always look at them, but we are reassured that they are there. Now she is gone, but her legacy will last forever.
For every tear we wipe away, a precious memory remains. As we have heard, many of those memories are from visits to our constituencies, and I have stories from my constituency of Watford. In 1946, when she was still a princess, the Queen visited the Herts show in Cassiobury Park; in 1962, she alighted the royal train at Watford Junction; and in 1981 she visited Parmiter’s School
In 1977, for her silver jubilee, she visited the Rolls-Royce factory in Leavesden. I admit to having a special family connection to that factory, because that is where my wife’s parents first met. I share this story because I still recall my in-laws’ excitement and pride when they received a letter from the Queen when they reached their diamond wedding anniversary. Sadly, my father-in-law, John, who was married to Pat, has since passed away and is always sadly missed, but I can still vividly recall the image of his proud smile when he showed me the letter from our wonderful Queen.
Perhaps therein lies the truth about why our grief is so strong for Her Majesty: she connected with us so personally, and our memories feel like those of family. Yes, she was a constant in a world of change. Yes, her compassion brought us humanity, even when the world could seem so cruel. And, yes, her words of wisdom brought hope, even when all seemed so lost. But perhaps Her Majesty’s true majesty was that her unbounding kindness made each of us feel like we mattered to her, and that is why she mattered so deeply to us. She was loved not just because of what she was, but because of who she was—our nation’s very own great-grandmother, our compass, our matriarch, our guiding light. So I say thank you, Ma’am. You were loved by us all. In your honour, we lovingly support your son and heir, King Charles III. God save the King.